Slides about Intel's upcoming Xeon Skylake Platform: Purley have been leaked to the great unwashed.

It looks like Skylake uArch isn't just another Haswell and Purley is poised to be the biggest update since the age old Nehalem platform.

According to WCCFtech the Xeon E5 and Xeon E7 will be getting some pretty natty updates if the slides are right.

Skylake EX Purley will actually ship with six channels of DDR4 as opposed to four. It will also include the AVX 512 instruction set and will boast the 100G OmniPath interconnect.

It will also have Cannonlake graphics support not to mention FPGA integration (another important upgrade). The FPGA will be able to execute programmable logic as opposed to the Skylake processor.

The slides show details about Purley for the Skylake Xeon E5 and Xeon E7. It looks like Intel Omnipath Architecture integration dubbed Storm Lake will be a major feature. The PCH will be codenamed Lewisburg while as it will also ship with updated Ethernet controllers. The platform will be scalable up to 8 Sockets.

Skylake EX Purley will be spread out amongst the entire scalable segment. The TDP will be configurable from 45W to 165W and will require Socket P. Purley will update the number of PCIe slots to 48 but they will finally be configurable in x4, x8 and x16 divisions.

Broadwell will be split into two categories depending on the target market.

There is the Brickland platform for the Broadwell side of things on the high end scalable segment. The SKU families E7 8800/4800 V3 and E7 8800/4800 V4 are specified in a succeeding order. The 4S segment has the Grantley- EP 4S platform. One is planned for 2015 and the other for 2016.

The Grantley Platform will be aimed at the 2S market. The SKU family reported here is the Xeon E5 2600v4. Brickland with Bridewell-EX CPU and it will will have 115 to 165W TDP and will use the R1Socket. The usual 4 Channels of DDR4 and 32 lanes of PCIe will be available.

Grantley with Broadwell-EP will have configurable TDP of 55-145W and a separate 165W setup. Their will be the usual 4 Channels of DDR4 memory and 40 lanes of PCIe.

Zotac has unveiled the new R Series in its well known ZBox Mini PC lineup which will feature two models, The ZBox RI323 and the Zbox RI531, both base on Intel's CPUs.

What is quite interesting is that the new ZBox R Series Mini Series PCs offer RAID support in a small Mini PC package. Both new R Series ZBox models are quite similar as both are packed in the same chassis, feature support for up to 16GB of DDR3-1600 memory in two SO-DIMM slots, have two 2.5-inch SATA slots, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, dual Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, four USB 3.0 ports, COM port and support for RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD.

The more interesting, ZBox RI531, is based on Intel's Broadwell Core i3-5010U dual-core CPU with Hyper-Threading. This CPU is clocked at 2.1GHz, comes with 3MB of L3 cache and packs Intel HD Graphics 5500. The ZBox RI531 will also offer an additional mSATA SSD slot and will be available as a Plus version, with 4GB of DDR3 memory and 64GB mSATA SSD.

The ZBox RI323 is not bad either but will not be available as a Plus version but only as a barebone and lacks the aforementioned mSATA SSD slot. It is based on a well known 22nm Intel Haswell dual-core Celeron 2961Y CPU clocked at 1.1GHz.

According to Zotac, both should be available quite soon with a price set at €199 for the ZBox RI323 and €349 and €459 for Zbox RI531 in barebone and Plus versions, respectively.

For those who came in late, Intel has a Tick - Tock strategy happening for the last few years, although lately there has been more tocking than ticking.

We have been stuck with Haswell for desktop computers for the whole 2013 and 2014 but this year Intel plans to launch a new architecture for desktop codenamed Skylake (Tick). Haswell 22nm was Tock, a new architecture manufactured on 22nm.It was followed late 2014 with Broadwell, a 14nm version of improved Haswell core (Tock). Broadwell (tick) will get succedded by Skylake, (Tock), a new architecture on 14nm.

Haswell Core i7 4770 emerged on June 1st 2013 and it was replaced a year later with Core i7 4790K again a Haswell refresh core. Now in June 2015 we expect a Skylake 14nm desktop parts, a year later than planned.

Skylake is bringing a few new things to the performance market. The new socket doesn’t surprise anyone and it is called LGA 1151, has just one pin more than Haswell.

The chipset is codenamed Sunrise Point and should work for the Skylake generation of processors and the 2016 Cannonlake Tick, It has 20 x PCIe 3.0, DMI 3.0 (4x PCIe 3.0) connection between CPU and the chipset. The number of SATA 6 G-bit ports remained six but the number of native USB 3.0 ports grew to 10, from 6 in Z97 Haswell chipset. Skylake supports both DDR3 and DDR4 memory and there will probably be boards for both memory interfaces.

Z97 boards had a single M.2 / SATA express port for the new format SSDs and the new Z170 will come with three of them. You will be able to plug up to three M.2 / SATA express drives in the motherboard. We are not sure that you need that many, but we would be happy with two.

Kingston's Predator M.2 drives are expected to launch in this month, February with the help of Marvell’s X4-lane PCIe SSD Controller 88SS9293 it can hit speeds over 1500MB/s read and around 1000MB/s write. We saw them in action at CES 2015 and we expect many similar drives from the competition to boost already faster SSD 6 G-bit SATA connected drives.

Intel has a new graphics driver for Haswell and Broadwell parts and it should bring a number of new features and improvements, especially for home theatre users.

According to the release notes, the new driver resolves a number of issues in Windows 8.1, as well as some Windows 7 bugs. However, the new driver does not cover Bay Trail series products used in many cheap HTPCs and mini-PCs.

In terms of new features, Intel has improved VP9 video playback through partial hardware acceleration (namely in Chrome video playback and Google Hangouts). HEVC decode, used for 4K content, was also improved, with 8-bit and 10-bit support. The driver also brings expanded OpenCL and OpenGL support.

Intel also used the opportunity to talk up new Broadwell parts, promising more battery life, up to 90 minutes in an HD video playback scenario, as well as superior performance in the GPU department, with gains of about 20%.

Not that long ago, Intel’s integrated graphics used to be a joke, but with Ivy Bridge and especially Haswell, Intel’s GPUs have become quite a bit more serious affairs, even in ULV parts. Too bad Iris is still reserved solely for flagship parts – as far as mid-range and entry-level iGPUs are concerned, AMD is still king of the hill.

Intel has introduced seven new Haswell mobile parts and four Bay Trail SoC chips, but most of them are merely clock bumps of existing models.

Intel's new mobile flagship is the Core i7-4980HQ, a hyperthreaded quad-core with a stock clock of 2.8GHz. It has a 47W TDP and it can hit a whopping 4GHz on Turbo, but the official price is $623. This part will undoubtedly be reserved for mobile workstations, high-end AIOs and maybe the odd gaming laptop.

The Core i7-4770HQ and Core i7-4770HQ are 47W parts and both are priced at $434. They are clocked at 2.2GHz/3.4GHz and 2.5GHz/3.7GHz respectively. The Core i7-4578U is a dual-core with four threads and it's clocked at 3GHz/3.5GHz. It has a TDP of 28W and the asking price is $426.

The Core i5 series has three new members, the Core i5-4308U, 4278U and 4210H. All are hyperthreaded dual-core parts with prices ranging from $225 to $315, reports CPU World.

The dual-core Celeron N2808 is clocked at 1.58GHz/2.25GHz and it has a TDP of 4.3W. The N2840 and N2940 are clocked at 2.16GHz/2.58GHz and 1.83GHz/2.25GHz respectively, but the latter is a quad core. Both have a TDP of 7.5W. All three new Bay Trail Celerons are priced at $107.

The Pentium N3540 is another clock bump and it looks like the fastest Bay Trail to date. It runs on 2.16GHz stock, but it can hit 2.66GHz on Turbo. It has 2MB of cache and a TDP of 7.5W. It also has quite a price tag, not what you would usually associate with a small core design - $161.

Intel has added eight new desktop chips to its price list, ranging from cheap Pentiums to mainstream Core i3 parts. All the chips are dual-cores based on the good old Haswell core.

Four new Pentiums are now available. All are dual-core, dual-thread chips with 3MB of L3 cache. The Pentium G3250 is clocked at 3.2GHz, it has a TDP of 53W and it costs $64. The G3250T runs at 2.8GHz, but it has a TDP of 35W. It costs the same. The second 35W part is the Pentium G3450T, which runs at 2.9GHz and costs $75. The G3460 is clocked at 3.5GHz, but it has a TDP of 53W and it costs $86.

The Core i3 family has four new members and they all support Hyperthreading. The Core i3-4160 is a 54W part clocked at 3.6GHz. The Core i3-4160T is a 35W version clocked at 3.1GHz. Both cost $117. The Core i3-4370 is a 3.8GHz part with a TDP of 54W and an MSRP of $149. The 4360T runs at 3.2GHz and costs $138, but as the T suffix suggests, it is a 35W part.

All of the new chips are basically clock bumps, offering 100MHz higher clocks than their predecessors. The "new" Core i3 products are priced to compete with AMD's recently Kaveri desktop APUs.

It looks like Alienware will be one of the first and biggest names to announce a Steam OS gaming machine. The company used the E3 trade show to show off a new mini gaming PC that doesn’t need Windows. The hardware spec includes Intel Core i3 Haswell processor, 4GB of DDR3 1600MHz desktop RAM and a custom-built Nvidia Maxwell-based GPU, based on mobile architecture.

It is unclear if this is the first or second generation Maxwell. By the time the machine ships, it could be based around some of the newer Maxwell architecture. We are not holding our breath, but the company has confirmed that the graphics card has 2GB of GDDR5 memory which suggests something a little sexier than we have seen so far.

We saw a mock up on a case back at CES 2014, and the final version looks the same. The price of the Alienware Alpha will start at $550 and will go as high as you can imagine. The basic configuration comes with HDMI in and out, HDMI pass through, two USB 2.0 in the front and additional two USB 3.0 in the back.

The rest of specification includes dual band wireless AC 1x1 with Bluetooth 4.0, Optical Audio out, 500 GB SATA 3 HDD as well as Windows 8.1.

The fact it will run Microsoft Windows is a surprise as Steam OS is an operating system and should not need anything from Redmond. This suggests that the Steam OS is still half-baked and will not be ready until 2015.

To remedy this, Alienware will include the Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Controller and Windows 8.1 so you can use the machine from day one. Alienware will offer a custom interface on top of Windows that should remind any users that everything is on stream for steam for TV.

Alienware is not shipping a keyboard or a mouse with the machine but it will work with them. There will be an upgrade path that will include Core i5 or Core i7 Haswell, 8 GB DDR3 at 1600 MHz, Dual band Wireless AC 2x2 with Bluetooth 4.0 as well 1TB or 2TB SATA 3 HDD.

Alienware Alpha will be a small gaming Windows based PC that will run early versions of Steam OS just fine. It will hit the shops in time for the holiday season.

Although Intel is all about Core and Atom these days, it still sells loads of Pentium parts for mainstream desktops and ‘essential’ laptops.

This year the Pentium brand turns 20 and Intel is marking the occasion with a special anniversary edition of the chip. The Pentium G3258 Anniversary Edition is a Haswell-based dual-core clocked at 3.2GHz. This does not make it the fastest Haswell Pentium out there, as the G3440 and G3450 are clocked at 3.3GHz and 3.4GHz respectively.

However, the Anniversary Edition should offer better value for money and it ships with an unlocked multiplier. In other words, while it does not boast the highest clock, it should be a lot easier to overclock than other G3000 Pentiums. The rest of the spec is identical to earlier socketed Haswell Pentiums, although the TDP is 53W, or 1W less than on other Pentiums.

It is a bog standard LGA1150 part, so it can be used in a wide range of boards based on 80- and 90-series chipsets.

According to early listings in the DACH market, the boxed version of the chip (BX80646G3258) should sell for as little as €65, making it the cheapest unlocked Intel chip on the market. Most retailers expect to have it in stock on June 10 or a few days later.

While its ZBOX Sphere caught a lot of attention thanks to its design, Zotac has now released a less good looking but a bit more powerful ZBOX mini PC based on Intel's Core i5-4200U mobile Haswell CPU paired up with Nvidia's GTX 860M mobile Maxwell GPU, the Zotac ZBOX EN760.

With all the recent talk about Valve's Steam Machine platform, it is definitely a good time to introduce a system which is as close as possible to a gaming mini PC. While you certainly can't pack high-end hardware capable of playing all the latest games in 4K/UHD resolution, you can still make a system with enough performance punch to run those games at reasonable level of detail, and that is where the ZBOX EN760 comes in.

Mobile Haswell meets the power efficient Maxwell

Based on Intel's 4th generation Core i5-4200U mobile Haswell dual-core CPU, which packs 3MB of L2 cache and works at 1.6GHz base and 2.6GHz Turbo Boost clocks, the new ZBOX EN760 packs a lot of CPU muscle in a very small form-factor. The Intel CPU is paired up with Nvidia's mobile Maxwell Geforce GTX 860M GPU with 640 CUDA cores, 5000MHz clocked 2GB of GDDR5 memory with 128-bit memory interface and 1020MHz base and 1097MHz GPU Boost GPU clocks, which should be enough for most games at 1080p and a reasonable level of detail.

As it was the case with all the previous Zotac ZBOX mini PCs, this one will also be available as a barebone and as a PLUS version shipping with 8GB of DDR3 memory and a 1TB HDD. In case you go for the barebone version, the new Zotac EN760 supports up to 16GB of DDR3L-1600MHz in two SODIMM slots and has room for a single 2.5-inch SATA 6Gbps drive backed up by an mSATA 6Gbps slot.

The rest of the specifications and features which are the same on both version include, integrated 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth, dual Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI and DVI outputs, 4-in-1 card reader, four USB 3.0 ports and digital 7.1-channel audio via HDMI or S/PDIF.

Although not a high-end desktop rig, the 15W TDP Intel Core i5-4200U CPU and power efficient Maxwell GTX 860M GPU should provide enough performance punch to make this one the mini PC performance king, at least on paper.

Availability and price

Although it did not officially talk about the availability date or the price, we already found the new Zotac ZBOX EN760 listed all across Europe, and although it does not have the cheapest prices, Alternate.de is a good reference point on what to expect in terms of pricing. Alternate.de currently lists the ZBOX EN760 barebone version for €489 while the PLUS version is listed at €649, making it one of the more expensive mini PCs on the market, but then again most other mini PCs don't feature a proper GPU capable of serious gaming.

Intel is planning to announce Devil’s Canyon just in time for Computex, but it looks like a paper launch.

According to WCCFtech, Intel will launch the first Devil’s Canyon part on June 2. However, the products will not ship anytime soon. Availability is slated for September.

Later than expected

The satanic high-end parts are basically Haswell (refresh) on steroids. Devil’s Canyon features the same basic architecture, but Intel has updated the packaging. It’s using new materials and an improved thermal interface material.

The first chip was leaked a couple of weeks ago. The Core i7-4790K is a 4GHz part capable of hitting 4.4GHz on Turbo. It makes us wonder what the overlocking potential will be, but we can easily see it topping 5GHz with a mild overclock.

That said, we were hoping Intel would bring it to market a bit sooner. September is a long way off, especially for a product based on a two-year old architecture.

What about desktop Broadwell parts?

The fact that Devil’s Canyon is coming in September is not good news. It is highly unlikely that Intel would have bothered with it had it planned to release desktop Broadwell parts in early 2015.

Now it is starting to look as if desktop Broadwell was pushed back and a Q1 launch seems highly unlikely. However, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich recently announced that the first Broadwell PCs will go on sale by year’s end. Of course, Krzanich was talking about notebooks and mobile parts, not desktops.

It is all a bit puzzling, as it is starting to look as if the first Broadwell PCs based on mobile parts could appear in late Q4 2014, or “not the last second” of the holiday season as Krzanich puts it, while desktop parts seem a long way off. At this rate we might not see them until a year from now.